Saturday, March 12, 2011

Ensalada Rusa Peruana - Peruvian Russian Salad

This salad is very hearty and my mom usually served it as a side dish with Seco de Cordero (Peruvian lamb stew). During Lent, you can serve it as a meatless meal. Just make sure to make extra.

Usually my mom's recipe called for fresh boiled beets. When fresh beets are hard to find, canned beets will do. I have been fortunate to find fresh beets weekly at a local farmer's market. My recipe is similar to the traditional Peruvian recipes but I have modified it to fit my family's tastes.

BTW, this is not a Russian recipe. I think Peruvians gave it that name because of the pinkish color from the beets.

Ingredients:

4 large salad potatoes (Red, White or Yukon Gold)
2 large carrots
3 medium sized Roasted beets Recipe NOTE: We need these beets for the salad but just try the roasted beets next time with a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar. You won't believe the wonderful taste!!

Boil the potatoes and carrots until tender. You can boil both together with the carrots on top of the potatoes. Just remember to check on the carrots for tenderness as they cook up faster than the potatoes.

Dice the cooled potatoes, carrots and beets. Add all the ingredients and blend well. As you can see from the above photo, I was in a rush to take the photo that I did not blend the salad as well as I should have.